What to Do if I Am Noticed by the Straight Guy Next Door?

Tiffany’s storefront along the street was entirely made of floor-to-ceiling glass. After Su Bin finished looking at the rings, he was about to signal Sun Yujie to leave when he noticed a few Chinese people standing outside the store, looking at them with expressions that could be interpreted as either disdain or mockery.

Su Bin turned his head to look at Sun Yujie and saw that his face had turned pale, as if he had been insulted. Su Bin was puzzled and asked, “Do you know them?”

Sun Yujie nodded slightly, casting a timid glance at Su Bin. The pitiful look in his eyes stirred Su Bin’s sympathy, and he glared at those people outside on his behalf. Just then, one of the guys made a “disdainful” gesture towards him, and they all laughed loudly before walking away.

Su Bin was confused, “What’s wrong with those people?”

He guessed that Sun Yujie might have been isolated by the so-called “mainland circle,” which explained why he approached him to talk on the first day of class and why he avoided walking near Cheng Ang. It also made sense when he said, “There’s no one to hang out with.” Although Su Bin didn’t know the reason why Sun Yujie was isolated, he was repulsed by this elementary school-like cliquish way of making friends. Why couldn’t conflicts be resolved peacefully? Did they have to resort to this kind of cold violence?

“Let’s go, let’s ignore them,” Su Bin said to Sun Yujie in his mind. If you don’t have any friends, at least I can be your friend during this year in City M.

On the way back, Sun Yujie timidly asked Su Bin, “Aren’t you curious why they treated me like that?”

Su Bin honestly replied, “I am curious, but it’s your business, and I don’t want to pry too much. I judge whether I can be friends with someone based on my own feelings, and I feel that you’re not a bad person. As for those few, either they have lip piercings or shoe piercings, they don’t seem like well-mannered individuals!”

Sun Yujie laughed at Su Bin’s description. There was a girl just now with boots covered in those pointed studs, which was a trendy style recently. Su Bin belittled her like that just to protect himself, and it touched Sun Yujie. “Actually, there aren’t many people who dislike me. After all, this is abroad, relatively free.” Sun Yujie said.

Su Bin listened without understanding and asked, “Are you saying that those people happen to be your archenemies?”

“No, no, they just simply can’t stand me,” Sun Yujie scratched his head. “But I don’t want to lower myself to their level.”

Su Bin nodded directly, “When I was in China, there were also many people who couldn’t stand me.”

Sun Yujie was surprised, “No way, you’re so handsome…”

Su Bin raised an eyebrow, “Being handsome means you’ll be popular with everyone? You don’t know, just because I’m handsome, there’s a bunch of people who envy me! They say I only got my girlfriend because of my looks, that I have many friends because my family is wealthy, that my good grades are because I suck up to the teachers… Basically, anything good about me is attributed to being born into a good family. They even say that I love showing off my wealth and seeking attention on social media… Damn it!”

Sun Yujie burst into laughter.

Su Bin continued, “At first, I was confused too. Why can’t these people stand to see me doing well? But later on, I realized that they are not as handsome as me, don’t have as much money as me, their girlfriends are not as pretty as mine, and some of them don’t even have girlfriends… They’re already pitiful enough, so I let them say a few words to make them feel better. They care a lot about whether I’m doing well or not, but I don’t even know who they are.”

Sun Yujie couldn’t help but give Su Bin a thumbs-up.

With the air of an experienced person, Su Bin patted Sun Yujie’s shoulder and said, “If someone likes you, there will inevitably be someone who dislikes you, just like a dish that is hard to please everyone. Get used to it.”

Sun Yujie’s eyelashes drooped, and his eyes welled up with tears of gratitude. Su Bin glanced at him and suddenly realized that he had said so much and still didn’t know why Sun Yujie was disliked by others. Could it be because he… is relatively cute and adorable?

Uh, these adjectives don’t seem appropriate to describe a boy! =_=#

In the evening, Su Bin returned home and coincidentally ran into Jin Fei about to go out. “I’m going to the supermarket, do you want to come along?”

“Ah? Which supermarket?” Su Bin had only been to the nearby convenience store and the Chinese supermarket since he arrived here. Seeing Jin Fei holding the car keys, he immediately perked up, “Let’s go!”

“It’s ASDA.” Jin Fei got into the car, fastened his seatbelt, and started the engine.

Su Bin asked, “What’s that place? What about Brother Cheng and Allen ?”

“It’s a big supermarket, like Carrefour…,” the car smoothly followed the curve and merged onto the road. Jin Fei connected his Bluetooth earphones to his phone and dialed Yang Chengzhe’s number.

Su Bin understood. Jin Fei probably wanted to bring something back for Yang Chengzhe along the way, but after hanging up one call, he didn’t call Allen .

Su Bin asked, “Don’t you need to bring something for Allen?”

Jin Fei shrugged, “I don’t know his number.”

Su Bin was a little surprised. Jin Fei had been living there for a year and still didn’t know Allen’s phone number?

Jin Fei said, “Yang Chengzhe knows. He will ask, and after a while, he will send me a message.”

Su Bin asked, “Why didn’t you just ask Brother Cheng directly for Allen’s phone number?”

Jin Fei turned the steering wheel and the car entered the main road, speeding up by ten miles. He frowned and said, “I never really had a chance to ask. Although I moved into this house a year ago, I’m not that close to that guy. Besides, he usually buys things on his own.”

Then Jin Fei explained to Su Bin the reasons and consequences of moving into the shared apartment. He came to Country B four years ago and initially studied at a private high school in the capital city, D City. After two years, he was admitted to M University and directly rented a hundred-square-meter apartment in the city center of M City. After living there for almost a year, he felt too lonely being alone. By chance, he met Yang Chengzhe and learned that someone was about to vacate their room in Yang Chengzhe’s house. He went to take a look and decided to move in as soon as the previous tenant left.

“Hey,” Su Bin asked curiously, “When you moved in, didn’t Allen have any requirements for you?”

“Not really,” Jin Fei thought carefully and said, “I talked directly to Brother Cheng. The only condition he gave me was not to bring friends home for parties.”

Su Bin blinked and asked, “Parties?”

“Yeah,” Jin Fei teased, flicking his own bangs and said, “I’m quite the social prince~~~”

Su Bin was stunned by Jin Fei’s gesture. Although he looked cool and arrogant, calling himself a “prince”… well, well.

“…What’s with that look on your face?!” Jin Fei caught a glimpse of Su Bin’s expression and couldn’t help but exclaim.

Su Bin quickly pretended to be clueless and nodded, indicating his understanding. “Uh, Brother Cheng mentioned that you liked to hang out in social circles during our last steak dinner.”

“That’s right,” Jin Fei boasted, “I’ve almost dated all the pretty girls in the Chinese community in M City.”

Su Bin: “…”

Jin Fei smirked and said, “If you want to have some experiences, I can recommend a few skilled ones for you.”

Experiences… damn it! Su Bin hurriedly said, “I have a girlfriend!”

Jin Fei glanced at him and chuckled, “But you’re in a long-distance relationship, right? Are you just relying on phone calls to hear her voice and… relieve yourself?”

“You, you…” Su Bin was so flustered that he couldn’t speak clearly, “…pervert! My girlfriend and I are truly in love, truly in love!” Su Bin emphasized twice.

Jin Fei couldn’t help but burst into laughter. “I was just joking with you! Couldn’t you tell?”

“…” Su Bin raised his middle fingers in response.

“Hahaha…” Jin Fei laughed until he couldn’t breathe. “You take things too seriously. It was the same when we had red wine last time… Why are you so adorable?”

“Damn it! Have you laughed enough?” Su Bin blushed with anger. Is it common to describe guys as “adorable”?

“By the way, how much is the rent for your room now?” Su Bin changed the subject.

Jin Fei mentioned a number that startled Su Bin. It was less than half of what Su Bin paid for his weekly rent. But considering that Jin Fei’s room was a suite, it was equivalent to the combined rent of Su Bin and Allen.

Jin Fei shrugged nonchalantly. “The place I rented before was even more expensive. This is considered cheap now.”

Su Bin sighed and commented, “Your expenses truly live up to your last name.” He was curious and asked, “Are those who invite you to parties as extravagant as you?”

Jin Fei raised an eyebrow and smoothly drove the car into the supermarket parking lot. “You call this extravagant? You haven’t seen how wealthy the Chinese people in B country are if you haven’t been in D city. People like me are quite common. I’m even sharing an apartment with you guys. I’m actually quite thrifty!” Jin Fei confidently pulled the handbrake, turned off the engine, and unfastened his seatbelt. “We’re here. Let’s get out.”

Su Bin thought that those who had once secretly mocked him out of jealousy should meet Jin Fei. Maybe then they wouldn’t look down on him anymore. Oh, of course, there was no guarantee that they wouldn’t become resentful and go smash their heads against the wall in frustration.

…It’s not that others were pretending, but that he was too low.

It was Su Bin’s first time in a large supermarket overseas, and everything was so fresh and new. He wanted to take a look at everything…

Huh? You need to insert coins to use the shopping cart? Do they return the coins? I only have 12 yuan in Chinese currency!

Wow, there are so many types of breakfast cereals. So Quaker Oats isn’t the only one!

What’s this? Is it soap? Wait, it’s butter! Do we need over a dozen brands of butter? What’s the difference?

Damn, so many varieties of chocolate, and they’re all so cheap… Should I pack some and send them to Chen Xiaotian?

Huh? They even sell flowers and potted plants?… Ah! Why are there potted green onions? Can you grow your own green onions?

Milk is so cheap! Cheaper than bottled water… But why haven’t I seen the brand Allen drinks?

Garlic… Seeing garlic, Su Bin inexplicably thought of the replies from netizens in the cliff post… Well, even though he didn’t need to guard against Allen, garlic was still used in cooking, right?

Su Bin put a bag of garlic into the shopping cart and thought for a moment before adding another bag.

“Why are you buying garlic? Do you have a fetish for eating garlic?” Jin Fei looked at Su Bin in confusion and pushed the cart, intending to go straight to the pre-cooked food freezer in the grocery section.

“Hey, wait a minute, I want to buy some vegetables!” Su Bin called out to him.

“Buying vegetables? You can cook?” Jin Fei stared at Su Bin in astonishment. “…You can actually cook?”

Su Bin was speechless. “Is it so strange to know how to cook?”

Jin Fei looked at Su Bin as if he were an alien and reevaluated him. “Hard to imagine. You look like such a delicate and sheltered little kid, so innocent, like a hothouse flower, seriously!”

“Seriously, you…” Su Bin suppressed the urge to say “sister” and spat out the word, “are full of crap!”

Jin Fei looked at Su Bin with curiosity, as if observing something extraordinary. “What kind of dishes can you cook?”

“Home-cooked dishes,” Su Bin replied.

“Can you make Buddha Jumps Over the Wall?” Jin Fei asked.

Su Bin exclaimed, “Damn!” He thought to himself, isn’t Buddha Jumps Over the Wall a high-end dish? Are you kidding me? “No, I can’t!”

Jin Fei rubbed his chin. “You’re from Hangzhou, right? Can you make West Lake Vinegar Fish?”

Su Bin pondered for a moment. “I can, it’s just a sweet and sour recipe, simple. But isn’t West Lake Vinegar Fish considered a special dish?”… By the way, what did Jin Fei grow up eating?

Jin Fei’s eyes lit up. “Impressive! You’re not bragging!” He went out for a while, then came back carrying a fresh sea bass. “Let’s try making it tonight!”

Su Bin glanced at it and said, “West Lake Vinegar Fish is made with grass carp or red snapper. Sea bass won’t work.” Nevertheless, he accepted the sea bass. “This one can be steamed.”

“What are you going to do with the garlic?” Jin Fei asked.

Su Bin replied, “Cooking. It’s a basic ingredient.”

Jin Fei nodded, still looking curious. “You really surprise me. If it’s not boasting!”

Su Bin couldn’t hold it back and swallowed the word “sister,” then spat out two words, “Oh, please!”

Jin Fei watched Su Bin carefully picking vegetables in the produce section, looking quite professional. He couldn’t help but ask, “What kind of dishes do you usually cook?”

Su Bin replied, “Home-cooked dishes.”

Jin Fei smirked mischievously. “You must have a secret recipe for instant noodles, right?”

Su Bin rolled his eyes. “Go to hell!”

Jin Fei：”…”

Su Bin felt like he had successfully shown off for once… Yes!

After picking the ingredients, Su Bin followed Jin Fei to his “special shopping area,” where someone mindlessly threw various flavors of frozen pizza, frozen pasta, instant noodles, garlic bread, and other frozen items into the shopping cart without looking at the prices. Su Bin didn’t even want to comment anymore. He had thought that Jin Fei only ate fancy and upscale stuff… Well, well.

The two of them filled an entire cart with groceries, paid at the checkout, and walked out carrying five large bags that filled the trunk of the Audi. When they returned home, Yang Chengzhe was taken aback, “Why did you buy so much?”

After bringing all the bags into the living room, Jin Fei finally noticed the small potted plant that Su Bin was holding and asked curiously, “When did you bring a pot of plants back?”

Su Bin sneered, “This is green onion, scallion!”

Jin Fei replied, “Oh.”

Su Bin placed the scallion in the center of the coffee table, watered it a bit, and then started organizing the ingredients he bought. Just as he was tidying up, Allen came back.

“You guys went to the supermarket?” Allen asked, seeing all the bags in the living room.

Su Bin and Jin Fei looked at each other. Yang Chengzhe answered, “Su Bin and Jin Fei went. We’re discussing what to have for dinner tonight. Have you eaten?”

“I’ve already had my meal,” Allen replied. He was dressed a bit formally today, wearing a silver-gray shirt with a matching dark blue tie, looking quite elite.

As he loosened his tie while walking over, Allen noticed the small scallion on the coffee table. He stared at it intently for a moment before furrowing his brows and turning to Su Bin, with a disgusted expression on his face, he said, “What are you holding? It smells terrible.”

Su Bin glanced at the two bags of garlic in his hands and didn’t know what to say.